Method of attaching rubber to leather.



PATENTED NOV. 21, 1905.

C. L. IRBSON. METHOD OF ATTACHING RUBBER T0 LEATHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.3, 1905.

ITNESSEE & v

Wars w CHARLES L. IRESON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF ATTACHING RUBBER TO LEATHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed March 3, 1905. SerialNo. 248,282.

To all whom, it may. concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLEs L. IRESON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in the Method of Attaching Rubber to Leather, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to' the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in explaining its nature.

The invention consists in the following-described method of attaching rubber to leather and in a manner to form a continuous bond of union between them, which shall not be less strong and homogeneous than the rubber which is thus united to the leather.

It has long been desirable to provide a new product consisting of leather and rubber thus united and in which each shall preserve all its individual properties, and my method of combining the two produces this result.

In practicing the invention the leather either in tanning or otherwise is impregnated with sulfur. Any leather which carries in it sulfur, whether introduced during its tanning or whether otherwise introduced and thoroughly permeating it, may form one of the two bodies. The other body or rubber may be of any desired thickness and of any desired vulcanization. To the surface of the leather there is applied first a thin coating of ordinary rubber-cement. The surface of the vulcanized rubber which is to lie against the leather is likewise coated with a thin coating of such rubber cement. Both the cement surfaces are then coated with a solution of protochlorid of sulfur and benzin or naphtha, and immediately upon the application of said sulfur solution to said surfaces the tanned leather and the vulcanized rubber are placed together and subjected while cold to pressure and for a period of time varying from about fifteen minutes upward. This forms between the leather and the rubber a thin intermediate continuous uniting-section which on the one side firmly and permanently combines with the tanned leather and upon the other side with the rubber. It has to some extent the qualities of both, is elastic and flexible, and forms a perfect union between them.

In the drawings, Figure l is a view representing a body of leather of the desired quality and having the necessary affinity for the vulcanizing agent to vulcanize therewith at atmospheric temperature. It also shows the body of rubber vulcanized in the ordinary way under heat and also possessing an affinity for union with the vulcanizing agent at atmospheric temperature. Fig. 2 represents the two bodies as prepared for their association together and vulcanized union. Fig. 3 is a view of the two bodies combined by the vulcanizing intermediate medium into one.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the leather; (4, the coating of rubber-cement applied to one surface; B, the vulcanized rubber, and b the coating of rubber-cement appliedto one surface. C represents the new product obtained by uniting the leather and rubber, and 0 is the interposed bond which vulcanizes them together.

I prefer to use rubber that has been vulcanized by heat. The proportion of protochlorid of sulfur to the naphtha or benzin may be varied; but I find that one of about five per cent. of protochlorid ofsulfur to about ninetyfive per cent. of naphtha or benzin answers very well. It will be understood that upon the application to the cement surfaces of this solution the two surfaces must then be brought together under pressure before the naphtha becomes dissipated. It will therefore be seen that this invention is in substance a method of uniting leather and rubber by what may be termed cold vulcanization, as the vulcanizing agent is adapted to vulcanize in place and cold between and to the rubber and the leather, and that because of the preparation of the leather andthe rubber the vulcanizing agent unites the section of the rubber adjacent to it to the section of the leather adjacent to it, and thus forms the continuous and strong bond of union to which I have referred.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. The method of uniting leather and rubber herein described, consisting in taking a tanned leather containing sulfur as one body, rubber previously vulcanized by heat as another body, coating the surfaces of each of the bodies which are to be brought into contact and united, first with a thin coating of ordinary rubber-cement, and second with a vulcanizing agent adapted to vulcanize or assist in vulcanizing the rubber-cement and its adjacent sections, when the two surfaces are brought together, and then subjecting both bodies and the intermediate vulcanizing elements to pressure at atmospheric temperature, whereby the vulcanization takes place under pressure.

cement and its adjacent sections, WhQIliJllB tWo surfaces are brought together, and then subjecting both bodies and the intermediate vulcanizing elements to pressure at atmospheric temperature, whereby the vulcanization takes place under pressure.

CHARLES L. IRESON.

Witnesses:

F. F. RAYMOND, 2d, M. E. FLAHERTY. 

